Two Democratic Members of Trump “Election Integrity” Commission Want to Add Consideration of Russian Hacking of Election Systems

Boston Globe:

Two members of a presidential commission charged with investigating alleged voter fraud want the panel to focus on what could be the biggest fraudulent scheme of all: attempted Russian hacking of numerous state election systems.

The call, by the secretaries of state in New Hampshire and Maine, presents a potential change in direction for a special commission that has widely been seen as a political smoke screen to justify the president’s unfounded claims about widespread fraud by individual voters in places like New Hampshire and California…..

Kobach, a Republican who is the Kansas secretary of state and vice chairman of the commission, said the panel would examine the vulnerabilities that Russians exposed if the group wanted to go in that direction.

“In the initial descriptions of the commission, election security and the integrity of equipment and voter databases was not specifically described,” Kobach said. “But if it’s something the commission wants to discuss, we can.”

A spokesman for Vice President Mike Pence, chairman of the commission, referred questions to Kobach. Kobach said that he’s in regular contact with Pence and his staff about the group’s work.

Maybe these Democratic commissioners also want to study whether restrictions on voting such as strict voter identification laws suppress the vote.  I guess Kobach would go along “it it’s something the commission wants to discuss.”

President Trump named three more members of the Commission last night:  They appear to be Luis Borunda, Deputy Secretary of State of Maryland (appointed by Republican gov. Larry Hogan); Mark Rhodes, a county clerk from Wood County, WV (who won his reelection for office as a Democrat by 5 votes!), and David Dunn, who may have been a Democratic legislator in Arkansas [corrected].Thanks to Doug Chapin for helping to identify these folks. (If any of this is wrong I will update).

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